36 CFR § 1223.12 - What are the objectives of a vital records program?

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t36/s1223.12"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "36 CFR § 1223.12 - What are the objectives of a vital records program?"
title_number: 36
title_name: "Parks, Forests, and Public Property"
section_number: "1223.12"
section_name: "What are the objectives of a vital records program?"
chapter_name: "NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION"
subchapter_number: "B"
subchapter_name: "RECORDS MANAGEMENT"
part_number: "1223"
part_name: "MANAGING VITAL RECORDS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "44 U.S.C. 3101; E.O. 12656, 53 FR 47491, 3 CFR, 1988 Comp., p. 585; E.O. 13231, 66 FR 53063, 3 CFR, 2001 Comp., p. 805."
regulatory_source: "74 FR 51014, Oct. 2, 2009, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "1223"
---


# 1223.12 What are the objectives of a vital records program?

A vital records program has two objectives:

(a) It provides an agency with the information it needs to conduct its business under other than normal operating conditions and to resume normal business afterward; and

(b) It enables agency officials to identify and protect the most important records dealing with the legal and financial rights of the agency and of persons directly affected by the agency's actions.